Message no. 1

From:	James Dening james.dening@****.co.uk
Subject:	Artiulacy on the list. (was a crack whore, but learned to work t
Date:	Mon, 13 Nov 2000 09:19:07 -0000

Tenkilian quoth:

>>With regards to text, the analogy carries through. Some people take
special
>>care that their words are spelled correctly and their grammar is good,
while
>>others are a bit more casual about it, with occasional misspellings or
weird
>>grammar. Some folk aren't used to English, so their posts generally look
a
>>bit weird, but they're still understandable, and don't stick out nearly as
>>badly as most of us would trying to converse in their language. And,
>>frankly, there are people who talk like a three-dollar crack whore... they
>>pay no attention to spelling, grammar, punctuation, or other such things
>>that present them in a good light.

This is very true. For most people for whom english is a second language,
they
make mistakes in their posting, but it's fairly obvious that it *is* their
second
language, and hence, it's perfectly understandable. For the record, as an
english
speaker, I am constantly ashamed of how few English people, or, for that
matter,
Americans, aussies, kiwis etc. speak another language. On the continent
(sorry,
that's Europe), *everyone* speaks two languages at least - most Danes I know
seem to speak Danish, English, French, and a couple of others -
unbelievable!

Anyway, I digress. Certainly, if someone posts to the list with a total
disregard
for spelling and grammar, I am that bit more likely to not consider their
posts
as thoroughly as I might. To be honest, I find it arduous to read doggerel
english,
and most of the time I simply don't bother. It *does* predispose me to
discount
arguments, opinions and the like, on the grounds that "Hey, if they can't be

bothered to spell or format properly, can they be a) bothered to construct a

coherent argument, and b) have the brains to actually participate decently
in
this conversation in the first place.

Sorry to rant slightly about this, but it *is* a particular gripe of mine -
the fact
that the internet, especially the fscking WaReZ style speech, seems to
be killing the english language, which is *so* versatile and intricate, and
in this read-only medium (think about it....!) is capable of extremely fine
graduations of meaning - surely the stock in trade of a non-verbal medium.

If you speak a lot to people, you learn to modulate your voice in subtle
ways - surely if you wish to write to a lot of people, you would want to
be able to articulate yourself literally.

James.